Kyle Trask ready to compete with Baker Mayfield to lead post-Tom Brady Bucs

By Greg Auman
Published

Kyle Trask has spent the past two years firmly cemented as a backup to Tom Brady, so the legend's retirement has given him his first real path to competing for a starting job in the NFL.

"It taught me a lot of lessons, but I also think it prepared me for a moment like this, when I have a more true opportunity at the starting job," the 25-year-old said Monday as the Bucs began their offseason workouts. "I'm just super excited about the future and see a lot of young, energetic faces in this building, just ready to go."

The Bucs signed former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield in free agency last month, and while he comes in on a modest $4 million, one-year contract, Mayfield's experience as a starting quarterback — he has thrown for 102 touchdowns and led the Browns to a playoff win in 2020 — gives him a real advantage in the competition ahead. Trask understands that and said the key for him is focusing on his own improvement as a young quarterback.

"This is a great opportunity for me to compete with someone like Baker, who has definitely proven himself in this league," said Trask, the final pick of the second round in 2021. "It'll be very fun to get to know him and compete with him every day. For me, I always try to be as consistent as I can. I'm always trying to build my routine, squared away as tight as I can. So it's important for me to really lock that in at a time like now and try to make myself as productive as possible to help this team."

The Bucs also have a new offense, so after two years of learning under Byron Leftwich, Trask is now working with longtime Seahawks assistant Dave Canales, a first-time playcaller who brings a high level of energy and enthusiasm. 

Trask limited his turnovers in college, throwing just 15 interceptions in 813 pass attempts, just 1.85%. Mayfield was comparable in college with a career 2% interception rate, but since coming to the NFL, he has thrown 64 interceptions in the past five years, the most in the league.

"I think to be a successful NFL quarterback, No. 1 has to be about protecting the football, no matter what team you're on," Trask said. "Look at every successful team, I'm sure they don't have a very high turnover ratio. That's obviously been a big emphasis for me personally, because that's one of the No. 1 rules of football, just protecting it. I'm glad [Canales] is making that such a big emphasis for us, because that's one of the most important things you can do."

Trask's body of work in the NFL is extremely limited, not taking a single snap in two years until the fourth quarter of last year's regular-season finale in Atlanta, when the Bucs had their playoff seeding locked up and were able to pull starters on both sides of the ball. Trask got in for 10 snaps, going an uneventful 3-for-9 for 23 yards, but it reminded him what he's working for.

"Obviously, the game didn't mean a whole lot for us at that point in the season, in terms of playoff contention and things like that, but just for me to be out there getting some real game reps, just kind of reminded me so much of why we're playing football," he said. "It wasn't scout team. It wasn't practice reps, just being out there, live action. It was awesome. Just a great experience for me, because prior to that it's only been preseason reps and scout team, whatever I can do in practice. To really see some live bullets, get a better feel for the speed of the game, was huge for me."

Offseason workouts will progress into OTA workouts next month and a mandatory minicamp in June, and Trask will have to actively outplay Mayfield to convince the Bucs to turn to the lesser-known commodity at such a crucial position. Trask had two years to watch and learn from Brady, as much about routine and detail and preparation as what he learned about reading defenses and executing an NFL offense.

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LeSean McCoy, Joy Taylor, Ric Bucher and T.J. Houshmandzadeh debate whether Baker Mayfield is a starting quarterback in the NFL after he signed with the Buccaneers.

Neither Mayfield nor Trask is particularly mobile as running quarterbacks go, but either would be an upgrade on Brady, who ran as much as you'd expect a 45-year-old to run. They'll be much, much younger in 2023, whether it's Mayfield at 28 or Trask at 25, and working in an entirely new offense, which sets up optimism of improved play from last season.

"I'm very, very excited about this new offense," Trask said. "I'm loving every part of it so far. If you look back to what they were able to do in Seattle last year, it's a very quarterback-friendly offense. They do a great job of tying the run and the pass game together, putting themselves in the best position possible. 

"I think that's going to be good for the people in this building. ... It's a very young team, a lot of new faces, so it's going to be very important to have, not necessarily a simpler system, but a system that allows us to play fast and play confidently."

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